Must Read on Boat Insurance!!

I have a pretty common boat length and engine size for guys on this site (18 foot, 115 horse four stroke), and we had an insurance quote from progressive for $304 for the year. I told my wife to call around and she called American Family…. their quote was $146 for the year!!! Their agent said the difference is because progressive doesn’t specialize in boat coverage. So shop around, can make a big difference. Hope this saves someone else some $$$.
-Jeremy

I dumped All-State and went with American Family….no complaints so far.

My guy is Dick Williams in Bloomington. 952-888-1445. He is an Am Fam dude. You are correct! I went through this same deal in the past. This guy has been FANTASTIC to work with. We moved our homeowners and car over to him and saved even more!
I know there are more stories like this out there..
Tuck

Yes, American family has good rates, and customer service.

Geiko was really good on rates for automobile insureance for us, I dont know on a boat.. the tin can I have is probably worth what it cost for a tune up on your big rigs…different boat value so the rate would be different.

I have BoatUS coverage. Very good rates. Never had a claim so I can’t comment on claims service.

A couple questions you may need to ask. 1. Am I covered if I’m boating on the Great Lakes? And 2. Am I covered if I go to Cananda or outside the USA? I found most coverage do not cover these 2 areas.

-J.

Last year I compared BoatUS to State Farm and SF was the clear winner. Paid $170 last year for 17.5′ with 115. It does pay to shop around.

I thought that the $300 a year I have been paying was pretty decent, I guess I need to do some checking around. I just called Tuck’s guy from AmFam and he said that he didn’t think he would be able to do just a stand alone policy for my boat at that type of cost. Do you guys that are paying less have everything (auto, homeowners, and boat) under one policy?

Could very well be…

I bought a shirt for $60 the other day, then I went to another store and bought a DIFFERENT shirt for $10…That is what you guys are saying here.

You can not compare rates between companies unless you are holding all the variables constant. Progressive/Drive Insurance has very good boat rates if you have a good “insurance score” they also have dissapearing deductibles, and FULL REPLACEMENT COST policies for new boats.

You are not comparing apples to apples when you are shopping for insurance, you are comparing rates only.

American Family does not write stand alone boat policies I believe, but if you write your home and auto with them, they have a competive rate for your boat as do MOST companies.

I know because I sell this stuff every day. Make sure you are comparing coverages before you compare rates. As with most things in life you get what you pay for. If you compare what you pay with Am Fam for home insurance to another company with equal or better coverage you will see why they can afford to give you a cheap boat policy, your home rates are high. Look at the big picture

If you have any specific questions you are welcome to email me. I can try to make sense of this all for you.

I have been a American Family guy for 20 years. On my last boat I hit rocks and my gears went out on my motor, but the lower unit was okay. Brought my boat to the shop, they gave me a quote and American Family sent the adjuster right down and cut him a check. What a great insurance company, I have everything with them!

I have a question, do you guys insure fully or just comp?
I just got a boat and was wondering what coverage I should have/need. thanks

I started off just having my truck and boat with Amer.Fam….then I just added my house back in July.

FULL COVERAGE TO THE MAX on my boat.

You tend to get much better rates when you have everything under one company. We have house, cars, boat, etc all under one policy and it keeps rates low.

JBongers:

The only policy I have with State Farm is my boat policy. I agree with Scott’s statements about comparisons but I’m comfortable that I quizzed SF hard and asked a few questions twice to make sure what I was buying.

I couldn’t agree more with Scott. I work in this industry for a living. There are more things to consider than price. Coverage and deductibles are different with each carrier. Some coverage forms will not provide coverage if you have a claim during a tournament–they will contest you were using your boat to make a profit, which then becomes a commercial use. They will deny the claim right there. Also, as Scott mentioned, there are several things to keep in mind like deductibles, coverage limits, towing, downtime, etc. I throw caution in the wind if you are simply buying the cheapest out there. Sometimes you pay for what you get. I also caution shopping it every year. Your insurance company will be more likely to be on your team if you’ve had a long term partnership with them. Drop me a pm if you have any questions…and I just may be able to hook you up with the right people!

Slop, you fish tournaments, you better check into coverage for tournaments with your policy..and get it in writing. Progressive is one of the few companies that do not consider tournament fishing a business..most of other companies do. If they consider it business use, you have no coverage under a typical boat policy.

The same goes for your rods, reels, tackle, etc. If you think you have automatic coverage under you homeowners for this, you better get it in writing if you do any guiding or fish tournaments.

John,
I have Progressive for my insurance. Two summers ago, I took out my lower unit on my 97 Johnson 115 hp motor on LOTW. We were on a houseboat out of Morson Ontario. I contacted Progressive the day after Labor Day. Their first response was to find a used lower unit and fix it when I got home. I let them know I needed it fixed now, not later. I had to email them digital pictures of the damage and they approved the repair with a brand new lower unit we found in Nestor Falls. It took approx. 2 hours on the phone to get thier approval. Morson Marina did the repairs for me. The even covered a brand new stainless prop. Total damage was about 4500.00 Canadian. The motor wasn’t probably even worth that much. All it cost me was the deductable. Unfortunately, the first lower unit was bad and had to get a second one, so I lost over 3 days of muskie fishing. I’ve had great luck with making claims with Progressive. KK

Scott, I don’t make any money at fishing so i’m good

You don’t have to make any money. If you pay an entry fee to fish a tournament, your boat may not be covered during that period of time you are fishing the tournament. You want to check how your insurance company views tournaments. The same is true for use on the Great Lakes, that is excluded from a lot of boat policies.

I don’t wish to disclose the fine print of my insurance policy on IDA, but I know all this…trust me. They almost didn’t cover me but I got everything take care of….thanks.

hey scott, does progressive cover if on the great lakes?

Sorry to call you out on this Scott, but you are dead wrong with your comments. I do not have any other insurance from American Family, my home and auto is through Horace Mann insurance in St. Cloud. I AM getting a stand alone boat insurance policy through American family on an 18.5 foot boat with a four stroke 115 horse motor, both 2003 models for exactly 146.00, I got that for an initial quote, and I just sent the signed paperwork back to them to commit to that with a check. Please be 100% sure on policies as to not discourage others from shopping for the best deal. If anyone wants to call it is the American family office in Plymouth near cty rd 24, pm me and I can go find his name and actual phone number. And YES I did get quotes for the same coverage I have currently on my two vehicles and home owner’s insurance that would save me big $, but it has no bearing on my boat insurance that is already in effect. Hope this helps some of you save some money like I did. By no means do I want to come across as negative or to create hostility, only to help others out and give accurate information. Thanks.
-Jeremy